Idaho State Police repay bar for revenue lost from sanctions for burlesque show

The Idaho State Police have agreed to settle a lawsuit from a New Meadows restaurant/bar that was targeted in a sting operation and hit with fines and a liquor license suspension after it hosted a burlesque show.

The Intersection BBQ Bar & Grill, which serves lunch and dinner seven days a week, is popular with locals and visitors in the town of 500 is the only local venue for live music and performances. It was hit with a $5,000 fine and a 15-day suspension of its liquor license in August 2015. Its ticketed dinner show with a special burlesque performance drew two undercover ISP detectives, among the sold-out crowd of 80, checking for compliance with an Idaho law that’s since been held unconstitutional and changed.

The violation: Performers’ costumes allowed the lower portion of the female breast, not including the nipple, to be visible to dinner show guests, in a place where alcoholic beverages were being sold. Both detectives purchased beers with their dinners.

Under the settlement, the federal lawsuit has been dismissed; a court order dismissing it was filed on Thursday. And ISP agreed to pay the Intersection’s owners $17,000 to reimburse them both for the $5,000 fine and for their lost revenue during the 15-day liquor license suspension.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article155351824.html